I am looking in the closet to see if I can find my tie, because I am going to this in an hour – a very bloggable event:

A Lunch and Panel Discussion
TALKING TO THE PUBLIC: How Can Media Coverage of Science Be Improved?
Friday, June 22, 12-1:30 p.m. at Duke University, Bryan Research
Building, Rm 103, 421 Research Drive, Durham

Sigma Xi, The Scientific Research Society, The Council for the
Advancement of Science Writing (CASW) and The Duke Institute for Genome
Sciences & Policy invite you to a lunch and panel discussion on science
and the media. Scientists and journalists face challenges in explaining
science-and its implications-to the public. A panel of award-winning
science journalists will provide practical advice for scientists about
improving communication with the public through the media.

Panelists:
RICHARD HARRIS, Science Correspondent, National Public Radio, reporting
for
Morning Edition, All Things Considered and Weekend Edition

JOANN RODGERS, Executive Director, Media Relations and Public Affairs,
Johns
Hopkins Medicine; book author; and co-author of studies on genetics and
the media

Polar cities are proposed sustainable polar retreats designed to house human beings in the future, in the event that global warming causes the central and middle regions of the Earth to become uninhabitable for a long period of time. Although they have not been built yet, some futurists have been giving considerable thought to the concepts involved.

High-population-density cities, to be built near the Arctic Rim with sustainable energy and transportation infrastructure, will require substantial nearby agriculture. Boreal soils are largely poor in key nutrients like nitrogen and phosphorus, but nitrogen-fixing plants (such as thevarious alders) with the proper symbiotic microbes and mycorrhizal fungi can likely remedy such poverty without the need for petroleum-derived fertilizers. Regional probiotic soil improvement should perhaps rank high on any polar cities priority list. James Lovelock’s notion of a widely distributed almanac of science knowledge and post-industrial survival skills also appears to have value.